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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27082621">vixen</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuijing/pseuds/shuijing'>shuijing</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>little box of horrors [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Blood and Gore, M/M, Murder, Private Investigators, Sexual Tension, Supernatural Elements, monsterfuckery maybe probably, renjun kills capitalist pigs and we support him</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 02:08:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,000</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27082621</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuijing/pseuds/shuijing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeno rarely has the chance to go fox hunting, but it is, by far, his favourite part of the job.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>little box of horrors [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954312</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>75</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Challenge #2 — tricks; treats; and terrors</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>vixen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>WARNINGS: violence, discussions of death and murder, graphic descriptions of gore. also badly-written make out scenes. that last one is Truly Scary</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jeno adjusts the cuffs of his blazer before stepping through the cobblestone doorway, only to be greeted by a flight of stairs. The stairway is barely lit with a single lamp hanging above, swaying slightly in an unfelt breeze. There are no signs indicating where he is, not even at the top of the stairs, or the actual door, a nondescript black frame with tinted glass. He visualises the passcode he was given in his mind, and, like magic, the door swings open on its own.</p><p>Six bodies in the last month alone. The police had connected the dots between the first three bodies, certain it was the same killer, but it wasn't until the fifth that they realised it wasn't the work of a human. In the time it took to contact Jeno and work out an agreement, a sixth had surfaced. A pity that he hadn't acted sooner, but he knows he can make sure that that was the last victim.</p><p>The modus operandi is the same for all six: heart torn clean out of their chests, scratch marks up and down their backs, bodies discarded in rubbish-filled back alleys. The killer clearly has a type, too: rich men whose lavish lifestyles showed in their clothing. They seem to like accessories. One victim's family, after being interviewed, said that the Rolex the victim always wore was missing from the belongings they recovered. It was assumed that the bare wrists of the other victims indicated stolen watches too. The only one who had kept his watch had a smashed clock face and blood all over the strap.</p><p>Three of the six men had last been seen at this establishment: White Dream. The place is extremely underground, but classy and high-end. It's known, in the circles of the rich, as a place for humans and supernatural creatures to meet and hook up without any prying eyes. It prides itself on its secrecy and exclusiveness. Jeno wouldn't have been able to pursue this lead, but luckily he knows someone with connections in the seediest places.</p><p>The atmosphere upon stepping into White Dream is so different Jeno almost shivers. The inside is spacious and well-lit by a huge chandelier. There is soft classical music coming from somewhere, always the same volume no matter where he walks. In front of him are twin staircases leading down to the main floor, and on either side of him are long walkways lined with curtained-off doors. Private lounges, he knows. Meant for doing business, but more often than not, their purpose is more explicit. </p><p>He has no use for them right now, so he takes the stairs down, looking around to appreciate the interior design. From the outside, you'd never be able to tell that this building housed such a luxurious establishment. He walks past the fairies in the laps of businessmen on plush leather couches, the vampires kissing the hands of chaebol heirs over round bar tables, one demon who shoots him a seductive look even as she leads a drunk-looking woman towards the stairs, straight to the standing bar. The counter is pure onyx, various human and non-human alcohols stored on the shelves behind it. The bartender is an attractive young man, looking hardly a few years older than Jeno, with piercings studding every available bit of skin on his ears. He wears no nametag.</p><p>"Can I get you something to drink?" He asks, and his voice is almost a purr. He looks human enough, but you can never really tell around here.</p><p>"Pink Rose and tonic, please."</p><p>"Of course, sir," says the bartender, fixing his drink in record time. He supposes, to be hired at White Dream, you have to be good at what you do. "Enjoy, Lee-ssi."</p><p>"Thank you." He doesn’t ask how the bartender knows his name, just takes a sip, resisting the urge to scan the room. He has to look natural. He's had years of experience, but even then the wait doesn't come easily to him. Doyoung once said Jeno on a case was like a dog with its nose on a trail: relentless in the hunt, eager for a job well done.</p><p>Luckily, the bartender doesn't try to make conversation, taking the order of a fairy on the other side of the bar. Jeno takes another sip. Its hibiscus taste swirls around his mouth. He makes sure, as he's lifting the glass, that his sleeve slips down to reveal the glint of his Ronde Louis Cartier. </p><p>Within seconds, someone slides into the space next to him. He hides the quirk of his lip with the rim of his glass. Got them.</p><p>"I haven't seen you around before." Jeno doesn't react, just tips more of his drink into his mouth. He takes his time setting it down before turning his head. It's a man, petite, dressed in a silk shirt and leather pants, leaning against the countertop. He doesn't have any features tipping off his supernatural nature, but there's something distinctly fox-like in the slant of his eyes, his cheekbones, the sharpness in his smile. Jeno's breath catches in his throat; he specialises in foxes.</p><p>"It's my first time here," he explains. He lets his eyes roam up and down the other's body appreciatively, shifting the power to his end. "And you? Do you come here often?"</p><p>"I'm a regular," he says, serene. "Just keep coming back. Can't resist the kind of people that come here."</p><p>"Well, I can count on you to show me the ropes, then, right?" Jeno throws the bait, hoping the other is just as eager as him.</p><p>"Of course," he says. Jeno's stomach lurches from the intensity of his gaze. "I'll show you how to have a good time."</p><p>"I'm Jeno," he introduces himself, holding out a hand. The fox looks at it, amused, before grasping it lightly and letting go. The touch is electric, sending shock waves through his system. "Renjun."</p><p>"Renjun," he repeats, savouring how the syllables roll off his tongue. Renjun smiles at him indulgently, as if he were a little kid. </p><p>"What brings you to this part of the city, Jeno?" He asks, and Jeno senses an opportunity. "Just looking for a bit of fun, that's all. I've heard some things from my associates about this place."</p><p>"Oh? Like what?"</p><p>"That here's where to go if you're looking for something really exciting. Exotic. Work is tiring, you know, and people are always telling me how to run my company. As if I became CEO by not knowing how things work in the real world. I need to let loose, fuck it out of my system," Jeno says, then eyes Renjun's exposed collarbones with interest. "And I've heard that the, ah, species that come around here have some <i>gifts</i> that make things better in the bedroom."</p><p>Renjun's smile has taken on a certain edge, cut from unpolished diamond. Jeno has laid his trap well. Renjun loves these types of men, or maybe hates them. He doesn't know what his motivations are, but he doesn't need to. As long as Renjun thinks he's underestimating him, Jeno will be underestimated in turn.</p><p>"So what about me?" Renjun asks, leaning in a little closer, pitching his voice a little lower. Jeno lets himself shiver. "Do you think I could help you with that?"</p><p>"I don't know yet. Why don't you show me what you can do?" Jeno says.</p><p>Renjun takes this as permission to touch him. His fingers merely rest on Jeno's jaw, the tip of his index finger quickly and gently swiping across Jeno's lips, before he retracts his hand, but the effect is instantaneous and shockingly strong. Jeno feels like he's been burned and drowned in ice water at once. His mind goes blank for a snapshot second of pleasure. He almost wants to beg Renjun to touch him again, anywhere, as long as he can feel that again. If—If it had been Renjun's lips on his...</p><p>"Feel that?" Renjun asks, though he clearly knows he does. He puts his finger in his mouth and sucks, pulling it out with a soft <i>pop.</i> Jeno traces the movement with hungry eyes. "Mm, hibiscus," he comments airily, the shadow of a smirk cast over his lips as Jeno swallows audibly.</p><p>"Could I," Jeno pauses, feeling the effects ebb away. He needs to focus. He's always had a weakness for foxes, but he has a job to do. "Could I convince you to show me more?"</p><p>Renjun's expression resembles that of a cat that got the cream. "You just have to ask."</p><p>He raps his knuckles on the counter, and the bartender appears before them, his smile just as courteous as before, but with a touch more warmth. They converse in Mandarin, and Jeno's subpar skills in the language only allow him to pick out 'we', 'room' and 'up'. Instead of listening, he takes the chance to observe their body language. Renjun has been projecting the illusion of invitation while talking to him, but there's a certain guardedness in his posture, a fox with its belly low to the ground. When he's talking to the bartender, his shoulders are less tense, the eye contact easy. They must know each other, and well. Jeno makes a mental note to follow up on that.</p><p>Finally, Renjun flutters his fingers at the bartender, waving goodbye, and lightly touches Jeno's shoulder. "Let's go somewhere a little more private."</p><p>Jeno trails after him as he takes confident steps towards and up the staircase. He empathises with the woman he saw being lead away by the demon earlier, although there's barely a drop of alcohol in his system; he's punch-drunk on something more intangible, the adrenaline, the anticipation, the <i>pull.</i></p><p>Upstairs, Renjun veers left instead of going through the front door, pulling aside the heavy velvet curtain of one of the lounges. "After you," he says with a little bow, tongue-in-cheek, and Jeno refuses to admit, even to himself, how charming that is.</p><p>Jeno does a brief sweep of the room as he steps in. It could very well pass for a business lounge, but the couch is too spacious and plush, and the glass coffee table is strategically placed further away, with a nondescript box on it. Jeno has a feeling he knows what's inside it.</p><p>"Go on, sit down," Renjun says from behind him, and Jeno does. He watches as Renjun adjusts the switches on the wall, dimming the lights so that a soft orange glow diffuses through the room, gliding over the slope of his cheekbones. In the semi-dark, he seems to transform, his eyes narrowing, tongue running over his teeth. His shadow on the wall behind him prowls along with every step he takes towards Jeno.</p><p>"Relax," he murmurs as he straddles Jeno's lap in a single, fluid movement. Jeno's mouth dries as he leans down, capturing his lips in a rough kiss. All of his nerve endings are on fire, synapses shooting off sparks. Renjun teases his lower lip between his teeth lightly before pulling away, and Jeno can barely stop himself from chasing after his touch. "Jacket off," he orders, and Jeno fumbles in his haste to take his blazer off and cast it to the side.</p><p>Satisfied, Renjun takes Jeno's chin and tilts it to the side, baring his jugular. His lips graze over the exposed skin, leaving butterfly kisses down the side of his neck, his hands running over the plane of his shoulders and chest before undoing the buttons of his shirt. Jeno tries to hold his hips, but he bats his hands away, stops licking at his collarbone to say, "Just lean back and let me do all the work, mm?"</p><p>Jeno, head fuzzy, mumbles something like assent.</p><p>Renjun's fingers make quick work of the buttons, shimmying it down his shoulders so his torso is exposed. Jeno knows his chest is flushed red, that he's breathing hard even though they haven't done anything, but he surrenders himself to the feeling. It will be over soon. He can enjoy this for a while.</p><p>"This could hurt," Renjun warns, hands slipping around his waist, resting on his back. "You aren't afraid of a little pain, are you?"</p><p>"Do your worst," Jeno gasps, and when Renjun grins down at him, he allows himself to admire how pretty he is when he holds all the power in the palm of his hand. Without a shadow of doubt, he can see why men died for him. </p><p>Renjun sucks more bruises into his skin, gradually making his way down, down, down, from his collarbones to his chest. His grip on Jeno's back tightens, digging into his skin so hard it throbs. Jeno bites down on his lip, hard. The temperature in the room seems to climb to a peak, making him shiver and sweat all at once. He feels a breath of warm air over the right side of his chest, hears Renjun's jaw click, can visualise how his canines would glint in the light even as he closes his eyes.</p><p>And before he even takes a bite, Renjun stops.</p><p>"Ah," he says, contemplative. "Someone beat me to it, it seems." His hands fall away from Jeno's back, but he doesn't move away, his tone accusatory. A fox with its lip curled back in a snarl. "What kind of game are you playing at, Jeno?"</p><p>Jeno takes a moment to catch his breath, steady his voice, before he opens his eyes and faces Renjun. Nine fox tails float behind him, white fur bristling. "Lee Jeno, private investigator of supernatural crimes." Even in this horrible lighting, he can see the blood draining out of Renjun's face. "There's a camera hidden in the collar of my shirt. Everything up to this moment has been recorded. Don’t even try; it’s protected with a damage spell."</p><p>Renjun remains silent. One of his tails flicks in agitation. Jeno continues. "You know you can't kill me, like you did with those other men. I'm giving you two options. One, you walk away from this and stop eating hearts. If we find another body, I have the evidence we need. Your scent is all over my clothes. I know someone who can hunt you down just with that, no matter how far you run. Or, you could come quietly with me right now."</p><p>"You're letting me go?" Renjun's brow creases.</p><p>Jeno doesn't respond. He knows he shouldn't. The chief of police will be furious to know that the murderer somehow slipped away, yet he still has to pay Jeno. But his contract states he only has to gather the evidence and find the culprit, not deliver him on a silver platter. Besides, Jeno has always had a weakness for foxes.</p><p>"Your choice," he says. "Disappear now, and stay gone. I'm only giving you one chance."</p><p>Renjun slowly climbs off Jeno's lap, eyeing him curiously. He keeps his front to Jeno, even as he backs out of the room.</p><p>"You're a strange one, Lee Jeno," he says, ducking around the curtain. "But you'd have to be a strange one to do what you did."</p><p>With that, he disappears. Jeno takes a moment to clean himself up, retrieve his blazer from where it lies on the floor, and when he steps outside, the white of Renjun’s tails is nowhere to be seen. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Jeno gets home when it's closer to dawn than midnight. He's exhausted. Transferring the files from the camera and taking photographs of the scratch marks on his back took longer than he expected, and Doyoung reprimanded him for letting Renjun get away, although something in his annoyed glare makes Jeno think he was expecting this anyway. The next time he goes into the office, he still has to look for leads on the bartender.</p><p>The apartment is dark and still when he lets himself in. He drapes his blazer over the couch, to be dealt with when the sky is high in the sky, and flicks the light switch in the kitchen. Fixing himself a cup of tea, he relaxes his muscles for the first time the whole night, staring out of the window at the penthouse view. Somewhere, in the midst of the city lights and the maze of buildings, Renjun is out there, licking his wounded ego. Jeno takes a sip of his tea.</p><p>Like clockwork, before he's even put the mug down, someone appears behind him, hands around his waist, teeth at his neck. A chill plunges down his spine, familiar in its iciness.</p><p>"My, my, Jeno. Coming home smelling like another fox. Getting brave, are we?" </p><p>"You know it's my job, Jaemin." Jeno sets his mug down calmly. One of Jaemin's tails curls around his ankle. </p><p>"I can smell him <i>all</i> over him. You had a bit of fun," Jaemin accuses. The corner of Jeno's lip can't help but lift. Foxes. Always so territorial.</p><p>"And if I did?" He challenges, savouring the way Jaemin's hold gets stronger, pulling at the fresh scratches criss-crossing over old scars.</p><p>"Chase someone else's tail for all I care," Jaemin says, quiet and deadly, nosing at Jeno's ear. The hair on the back of his neck stands up. "But don't forget who you belong to."</p><p>Jaemin's hand slithers up from his waist to his chest, feeling for a heartbeat that isn't there. Jeno closes his eyes, sunk in the memory of Jaemin's tongue in his mouth, pushing his <i>yeowoo guseul</i> down his throat, how it tasted like ice and glass and smoke. Jaemin's teeth piercing into his skin, the bleeding cuts on his back, feeling his heart pounding in his ears, then nothing at all. The sound it made, wet and awful, when Jaemin ripped it out of his chest. Watching it pulse weakly between Jaemin's teeth before going still. The pain, the overwhelming pleasure. Jaemin kissing him after eating, his mouth stained with crimson, tasting the rusty copper of his own blood. </p><p>"Of course," Jeno breathes. So, so weak. "My heart. Yours. Always."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>狐狸精 (huli jing): fox spirits in chinese mythology. can be good or evil, but the evil ones eat men to grow stronger.<br/>구미호 (gumiho): fox spirits in korean mythology. always evil, and eat either human hearts or livers. they possess a yeowoo guseul (fox bead) that contains all their power or knowledge.</p><p>i changed and mashed up parts of the two myths for the purposes of this fic so it isn't entirely accurate, but i hope you enjoyed anyway! happy halloween</p></blockquote></div></div>
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